Dr. Robert Kraig

Robert Kraig became Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin in 2009, after serving for nearly three years as Program Director. Over the past 12 years, Dr. Kraig has played a significant role in the Wisconsin public policy arena. He is especially known for developing and leading innovative strategies to make health care reform a top issue in Wisconsin. In January of 2009 Families USA, the national organization for health care consumers, presented Robert with its “Consumer Health Advocate of the Year Award.” Also in 2009, the Wisconsin State Assembly gave Robert a special citation for his work in promoting health care reform in Wisconsin. In 2007 Kraig shared, with his colleague Matt Brusky, the “Progressive Innovation Award” from the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. He is also a policy expert, authoring nine reports on various aspects of the health care crisis, and speaking throughout the country on reform legislation. He is the author of the annual Wisconsin Health Insurance Cost Ranking Report, which compares each region of Wisconsin on health insurance costs, inflation, and quality. Kraig earned a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, holds a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh, and an M.A. from the University of Georgia. He is the author of an highly regarded academic book, Woodrow Wilson and the Lost World of the Oratorical Statesman (Texas A&M Press). The book topped a Wall Street Journal list of the five best books on presidential rhetoric to read in preparation for the Obama administration. Kraig has also published four articles in peer-reviewed academic journals. Before coming to Citizen Action, Kraig was Policy Director for One Wisconsin Now. From 1999-2005 he was the Political Director for Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Wisconsin State Council, where he helped lead SEIU’s emergence as a major player in Wisconsin politics, and helped develop and win the passage of several policy innovations which enabled thousands of low- wage workers to form unions. He grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, and has lived in Wisconsin since 1989.